An Olde Worlde Celebration - Adah and Sean's Winter Wedding

Scrolling through the photos of Adah and Sean's wedding, you'll almost think you've stepped back in time. This beautiful intimate and unique wedding is the vision of designer Adah, but some credit must be attributed to Adah's beloved and very stylish Grandmother. From the bride's vintage-inspired custom designed dress and the groom's classic tux, to the candlelit church ceremony, this intimate celebration is filled with olde worlde touches artfully captured by photographer Lisa O'Dwyer.

Adah and Sean have a particularly unusual story of how they met. the two originally met at her beloved Grandmother's funeral. "She would love to think that she brought us together! Having lived on O'Connell Street in Clonmel the same street as the groom Sean’s home, I think she would have approved!" Thus having played a part in the beginning of their story, her grandmother was clearly an influence when it came to the wedding.

But the two certainly upped the romance factor when they got engaged. Sean popped the question on "a beautiful balmy night in Cadiz, Spain, strolling along the promenade." That does sound romantic!

Adah is a designer, and of course relished the opportunity to get hands on with her design expertise in lots of big and small ways with the wedding. She designed the images and maps for the invitations herself, and once they were printed by Daintree in Dublin, she hand painted the watercolours on each one!

But it didn't stop with the invitations, she also created her own wedding dress! "Being a designer allowed me to indulge in two ensembles, one for the Church and one for the reception! I created a soft pink silk coat dress for the Church worn with my grandmother’s mink ties and a vintage hat, later that evening I changed into a long pink silk evening gown encrusted with Swarovski crystals." Adah's attire certainly set the scene for the rest of the evening!

Adah drew from her grandmother's closet for her accessories, topping off the look. "My grandmother’s mink ties (they formed the starting point for my designs) and her crystal necklace and earrings. Vintage hat from Rhinestones Dublin, a combination of mink colour base with baby pink petals, were a very lucky find."

The soft vintage inspired gowns demanded equally beautiful florals..."Jimmy from Every Blooming Thing in Clonmel created the most beautiful winter floral arrangements and bouquets, mixing wild winter snow berries and twigs gathered that morning from ditches with soft pink roses." Aren't they just lovely?

Sean doesn't look the least bit nervous, he's ready to get married!

But beyond the dresses and flowers, the couple was actually most focused on their ceremony during the planning stage. "The Church ceremony with family and friends was our priority from the beginning, our first step into married life. We spent much time choosing our readings, writing the prayers, and selecting music to set the perfect tone to our ceremony. It was very special to us, dusk, candlelit and very emotional!"

The florist also created little arrangements to add festive cheer to the church ceremony. These are the sweetest little wreaths!

And of course there were some special people who added that something extra... "We are so lucky to have the most wonderful musician friends who played and sang during the ceremony... it was sublime."

Lanterns lit outside the church give a little sparkle as the sun is setting.

Overall, Adah and Sean were thrilled with how the evening came together. "A dusk Church ceremony. A festive feel at the reception with old world glamour, an intimate candle lit dinner in the beautiful timber panelled dining room of Waterford Castle, our own Island oasis for the day! Dancing until dawn to Conor McKeon and the Legends of Swing!" Sounds like an absolutely elegant evening to us!

Waterford Castle added old world ambiance to the Adah and Sean's special day. "The beautiful old world feel of Waterford Castle on its own island with deer roaming around. Enormous log fires. The original timber panelled dining room was the perfect setting for our candle lit dinner."

So, tell us about the cake that added a sweet treat at the end of the night? "Made at the foot of Slieve na mBan by Siobhan Walsh. A very traditional, old fashioned fruit cake with the most intricate hand piped icing. A work of art! One of our fondest memories of the day was when we slipped into the dining room to see our cake and the pianist played Slieve na mBan for us as we danced around the cake made at the foot of Slieve naBban!" How poetic!

We bet the couple has been looking through their wedding photos, reminiscing about their day! "We now have the most beautiful record of our day, a magnificent heirloom wedding album (in baby pink velvet with a debossed deer on the cover) produced by our photographer, Lisa O Dwyer. Lisa captured beautifully every special moment of the day, even the moments we missed!! Lisa’s presence added to our enjoyment of the day and her photographs are like works of art, paintings!" And that even adds to the memory of the day!

And for their honeymoon? The couple jetted off to another cosy spot! "Another winter wonderland, Kitzbuehl in Austria to ski and toast ourselves around log fires!"

Best wishes, Adah and Sean! And thanks to Lisa O'Dwyer for sharing these old world wedding snaps!